"You know it's always going to be close when you play over here," said Calvert Hall senior attackman Patrick Kelly, a North Carolina recruit who scored three goals and added an assist. "They're a great team, and the atmosphere with their fans makes it tough. But we thought if we kept doing what we were doing in the first half, our shots would start to fall."

Senior attackman Ryan Brown sandwiched two goals around one by Kelly during the third quarter to give the Cardinals an 8-4 advantage heading into the final period.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, senior goalie Dimitri Pecunes and the Calvert Hall long sticks were keeping the Boys' Latin offense in check.

The unit, backed by 13 saves from Pecunes, generally held the Lakers to one shot per possession — when they could get off a shot at all.

"We collapsed to the hole when Shack had the ball because he's such a great feeder," Pecunes said.

Besides, it was difficult for Boys' Latin to have enough possessions to keep up with the Cardinals, considering the way junior Stephen Kelly was dominating at the faceoff X. In a brilliant all-around performance, the U.S. Under-19 team member claimed 12 of 17 draws, scooped up 11 ground balls and produced three goals and one assist for good measure.

"We had a tough week last week," Boys' Latin coach Bob Shriver said. "We outplayed the No. 1 team in the country [Pennsylvania's Conestoga] and lost [7-6 in overtime] and then went into a hostile environment at Gonzaga and lost [14-13]. I thought that scheduling tough games before the MIAA season would help us, but we came out flat."

Shriver acknowledged that Calvert Hall's superior hustle had something to do with the Lakers' problems.

"When we put the ball on the ground, they picked it up," he said. "And that's all about effort and energy."